Overview

Up to the late 1960s, Barbados’ agriculture was dominated by sugarcane, with root crops used as rotation crops on the sugar estates. Cotton production fluctuated considerably over the years.

Since the 1960s it was recognized that diversification of the Barbados agricultural industry was necessary since reliance on sugar cane alone was dangerous, bearing in mind that the sugar price could fall. It was also recognized that mechanization of sugar cane would be inevitable to improve the viability of the industry and therefore lands not suited to mechanization would become available for other crops.

A Crop Diversification Unit was set up by the Barbados Sugar Producers Association and over 50 crops and livestock production systems were tested for their suitability as a replacement for sugar cane but it was soon conceded that no one crop or livestock system had the characteristics necessary to replace sugar cane both from the point of view of its beneficial effect on the local soils, market or potential revenue.

Therefore it was decided that diversification within and around sugar cane was the way to proceed. In 1970, the Ministry of Agriculture embarked on a 3 year Vegetable Development Programme funded by the OAS. Prior to this, vegetable crops were only grown on a small-scale in backyards.